Novo Amor, aka multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Ali Lacey comes from deep in the Welsh mountains. Recording, mixing and producing everything in his home studio, Lacey’s emotive vocals and the sounds he uses, often formed through sonic experimentation, make for fantastically atmospheric songs that are moving and striking.

On his debut album ‘Birthplace’, the sounds of his home bleed in – the chatter of a party across the street, Bonfire Night fireworks, the seagulls that gather on the building site next door. Even the sound of the late-night recording hours kept to avoid the sounds of construction make their presence felt. The songs cover many theme and thoughts – ‘Repeat Until Death’ deals with friends experiencing drug addiction, ‘Seneca’ is rooted in the story of a town in Nebraska that tore itself apart over a dispute over how many horses might be kept in a yard. “But no matter what each individual song is about there’s a sombre conflict across the record,” Lacey says. “It contradicts the happiness with waking up every morning another day older, another day further away from your past.”